11km today, even more flooding on the river side route, so ended up having to go out main road. head torch and hivis but still... lorries make the pedalling less fun. 

 

also finished the Le Col challenge so i got a voucher code for 58quid off some gear and a draw entry for 2900 quid worth

 

must have a look at the fancy cycling gear. 

so yesterday i upped my game a bit due to the main route still being a bit flooded, i had to stay within the main roads.

 

then this morning the flood gate was closed, so i really had to alter my route, but tacked on some extra distance 

 

 

you may also notice i set a new PR for 2 segments yeaterday, and then set new PR's on them again today

 

 

feckin cold this morning. couldnt feel my fingers when i got home. but...

happy with it. full lap of the town - 16km, couple of personal records on segments and a nice avg speed

If you gained 68m in elevation, but your maximum elevation was 56m, does this mean you started in a bunker, 12m underground?

 

Good average over ten miles 

 

Gaz

im not sure how it works out that tbh..

i presume it totals the amount of uphilling on the route

Edited 8 February, 20215 yr by mac11irl

trying to snow, i reversed yesterdays route, but cut it about 2.5k shorter due to time constraints.

eastern head wind blowing a light snow into my face for half the trip wasnt fun.

hard to motivate yerself when on nights...

weekend of wind and rain alerts...

 

625am today....

 

still hoofing it down and blowing a gale. got up and did some work instead to get ahead of myself. sun shining now bit spud sr will want to come with me which will be fun but 0 exercise, and we cant go down the safe route by the river, so be on busy paths alongside roads.. what to do!!!!!

weather broke, sun shine ... work done early... made a an attempt and succeeded.... in getting utterly soaked when the sky opened!!

still, good maiden pedal test for my Le Col jacket. my middle bits stayed dry... head was soaked, legs were soaked. .. but meh. 

 

i got a full 15km lap of the entire town done in 37m50sec. 

 

 

5new PR times on segments, and 7 second fastest times. really cheered me up by just getting out and committing to what i wanted to do inspite of the weather

 

up early, out early, dry, darkness into light, lovely.

added a km onto yesterday afternoons route, and felt good doing it. 

 

 

 

went moonlit tonight...

havnt been out since Tuesday as i was on nights again second half the week (ohhhh they were 2 fun shifts!!!)

alarm at 7am was accompanied by pelting rain against the windows... feck that, stayed in bed til the boys woke up. 

i needed to get out, but couldnt really all day. weather was hit n miss and swmbo also needed a chance to get out for a break, so once the 2 spuds were in their beds i geared uo and went at 850pm. moonlit starry sky, almost no traffic, it was lovely. so lovely i tagged on an extra little loop to the west end out around by the marlfield lake and back in. theres a tough auld climb back up from marlfield to drop back down into the town. i hit my slowest speed on the ascent and my fastest on the way back down that one hill added 29m of climb compared to the slightly shorter lap of the town i did previously.

then got caught out.. the flooding has meant Convent bridge is closed.. i didnt cop until i was too far across the road at the traffic lit junction  watching oncoming traffic, so ended up having to double back through town instead of my preferred route along the riverside cycleway.

 

im a happy camper after it

 

so sleep was interrupted and both swmbo and i were on online traini g courses today so, given i was up later than planned, and had no buffer time available i had to cut it to a short short route. only 9km, but a grand start to the day. 

also lost a good minute when i somehow managed to rerail the chain of my front sprocket! no idea how. stupid grip shifter.

Edited 22 February, 20215 yr by mac11irl

doing well Mac...

Just now, olduns said:

doing well Mac...

thanks ☺

 

gonna be tough tomorrow... forecast is shocking bad, but worse as the week goes on, so it may be my best chance to get a good distance done if i can motivate myself out early enough. i have day 2 of the course to look foreward to after it aswell... the boys are in bed early, but theres a 50/50 chance spud jr will wake me up at some inhumane hour of the night.... just have to try and look through that!

well its 345am, and im sitting in the kitchen with jr.. and the weather update is wind and rainfall warnins in place. thus ive reset my alarm for 1no. 18km cycle worth of extra sleep...

so i just stayed asleep a bit too long today, probably trying to make up monday nights awfulness. got out a bit late again.. and the flood barriers have been deployed so 2 of my river crossing points are closed. and all the river walkways are under 2-4ft of water.. so i had to be creative this morning for a 12k blast..

 

couple of double backs, and i did stop to take a couple of pics of the water levels..

the pillars to the left are where i usually swing in to river walk..

the black rectangle in the water is a normal, roughly 1m tall rubbish bin.

water is quite high..as in about 5ft higher than nominal in channel level..

 

i was tired today.. own fault couldnt get to sleep. 

but i made myself get up, and was glad i did - clear, dry, fresh.

perfect cycling weather.

dawn at Ferryhouse, looking East down a still very swollen river 

 

and nice set of stats.

 

also realised that there are a couple of those "your speed is ..." radar signs omaround the town that will pick me up wearing a high vis

nice to have a couple of speed traps to aim for 

24kph on a fairly flat bit

37 and 36kph on 2 others on downhill bits.

 

i didnt want to go.. was up late washing floors, then spud jr woke for 20mibs in the middle of the night, but i was awake for an hour.  

alarm at 625 was not welcome.

 

but, it clear, it was dry, it was frosty, it was f'ing cold. but it was quiet...

 

it was also pretty quick

half a kph average faster than last week and a slightly longer distance.

if i hadnt needed to stop at a roundabout for oncoming traffic i probably wouldve cracked 24kph average speed 

another cold mirning but foggy...

got out a bit earlier too so had time to tack on the extra 2k hill climb bit to the west... its a tough enough climb but the downhill bit is fun though..

 

 

right.... 3am wake courtesy of growing teeth... then 545 am wake up, and 610am wake up that led to getting up and staying up. no cycle time :(

 

until tonight... when i blitzed the post kitchen clear up and at 8pm suggested i might go a quick cycle if swmbo could give jr his supper? id be  back in time to get down for the sleepy time bottle and settle him then finish the kitchen and ecen mop the floor since i wont sleep after the exercise... 

boom. new personal bests on a couple of segments and fastest overall time on the 16k route

i even hit the 3 speed traps at a decent clip - 31,34,32kph.

left the house at 20.11 was back, washed and ready for night settling at 905pm Happy camper.

 

just in bed now with the floors done and a tidy kitchen. hope i can sleep soon!

nearly had a "Lie-in" today... jr woke up at 6, but went back asleep. i was too knackered to go anywhere though. going in the morning before the shopping and bins run

Edited 5 March, 20215 yr by mac11irl
typos

well yesterday was wrote off...

 

so, 730am... i was gettin me bike outta the shed.

 

it wouldve been an 18k route in the frosty freezing cold sunshine... but i couldnt feel my hands below the wrist so bailed out early. . 

 

decathlon may send out my order from 3 weeks ago... muppets.

 

on a frosty slightly foggy monday morning, running slightly behind schedule, i got a nice 16k in. 

 

and today we went 3 in a row with a better time. noticed a vibration in the pedals though, thought "ah ****e my vintage 30 odd yr old crank bearing is letting go" but no! turns out the rear axle slopped a bit on the frame and the tyre is rubbing on the tail fork

rest day tomorrow morning so might get it adjusted and tightened up if i get a chance

 

shouldve been pedalling thirsday but had to be at lidl at 8am for planned specials and get spud to school, so binned it on the basis of going that night... disaster night as spud jr had his 13month vax shots so was off form, up late, woke up middle of the night... so friday am got sacked too. 

****ing rain friday and saturday morning.

 

and then... last night... well lets just say i couldnt face a cycle this morning... roll on tomorrow to get back on track 🙄

I had all sorts of weather yesterday Mac, wind, rain, sun, hail and snow, thankfully I was already out when it all hit otherwise I'd have sacked it as well 🤔

It was also one of those 'no legs' days, Strava says different. 

Keep at it 👍

got out this morning. 

i was too bloody knackered yesterday morning so binned it when i woke up and went back asleep.

 

16k lap in 41 and a bit mins. slower than i had been getting to but it was a nice pedal and all things considered it was good. even the sticky drizzle didnt bother me